1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automobile system for detecting a vehicle failure and requesting repair or maintenance, and more particularly to a repair and maintenance support system which is optimal for carrying out procedures to request repair without troubling the user at the time of a vehicle failure, and also relates to a navigation apparatus and cellular phone used in such a system.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a car goes out of order while it is being driven on the road, the driver must identify a point of the failure himself, search out the nearest repair shop, make a phone call to request repair, and find the route to the shop and get the vehicle to the shop by driving it himself. Also, if this is a situation where the vehicle cannot run, the repair person is called to the location to transport the vehicle to the shop. In this case, the driver must give his current location to the repair person. In the event of a breakdown in an area with which the driver is not well acquainted, it will take time to transmit this information correctly and a repair person will need extra time to arrive at the destination due to incorrect information. In this way, the driver of the vehicle must perform complicated tasks to make arrangements for the repair work even in a disrupted situation, and will be stuck for long periods of time.
The operation to confirm the condition of the vehicle is difficult for many drivers, but technology for simply performing this operation has been disclosed. For example, the technology indicated in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H09-159581, a navigation apparatus is provided with a function for acquiring a condition of a vehicle. Once the vehicle information is transferred to a remote-control apparatus of the navigation apparatus or a cellular phone, the vehicle information is retransmitted to a personal computer so that it can be examined. When the cellular phone is used, the vehicle information is sent to an automobile maintenance service company through a telephone network and this information is used for the maintenance and inspection of the vehicle.
Even with a conventional art, information necessary for maintenance and inspection performed by a maintenance service company can be transmitted with a simple procedure by the vehicle user. However, in the case of a vehicle breakdown, a series of operations from occurrence of breakdown to repair, such as providing the location of the broken down vehicle and a settlement method, have not been considered. Also, an external processing apparatus such as a personal computer is necessary for management and processing of the vehicle information, but no method for enabling a driver to provide persons concerned with necessary information from within or the vicinity of the broken down vehicle has been disclosed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a repair and maintenance support system which enables a driver, at the time of a car breakdown or failure, to take simple steps to correspond just by reporting the breakdown to one reception window, and enables to unify the reception window resulting in easy use.
In order to solve the aforementioned objects, the present invention is a repair and maintenance support system comprising an onboard peripheral apparatus installed on a vehicle and comprising a failure detector, an onboard main controller installed on the vehicle and including a controller for managing vehicle information from the onboard peripheral apparatus, and a response center which can receive information from this onboard main controller through wireless communication; wherein the response center is provided a process controller, a database for storing failures received on the basis of information from the onboard main controller, a database for storing customer-related matters, and a database for storing data relating to failure remedies; and wherein the process controller acquires information relating to failure remedy methods from the database relating to failure remedies established by the car manufacturer, based on failure information from the onboard main controller, and indicate remedies to a shop for carrying out the failure remedies by transmitting information relating to the failure remedy method.
Also, the present invention is a response center which can receive information relating to vehicle failures from the onboard main controller installed on a car and comprising a controller for managing the operating condition of a car through wireless communication; wherein the response center comprises a process controller, a database storing failures received on the basis of information from the onboard main controller, a database storing customer-related matters, and a database for storing data relating to failure remedies; and wherein the process controller acquires information relating to failure remedy methods from the database relating to failure remedies established by the car manufacturer, based on failure information from the onboard main controller, and indicate remedies to a shop for carrying out the failure remedies by transmitting information relating to the failure remedy method.
Furthermore, the present invention is a car comprising a power system; a driving system driven by this power system; a braking system established in this driving system; an onboard peripheral apparatus having failure detector for detecting failures in at least one of the power system, driving system, and braking system; and an onboard main controller having a controller for managing car information from said onboard peripheral apparatus; wherein, when a failure is detected in at least one of said power system, driving system, and braking system, the controller provides a driver with instruction to pull over and stop, while transmitting information relating to the car failure and ID information through wireless communication.